In commercial and residential kitchens, steel wool is used in large quantities to clean utensils and pots and pans from caked-on food remnants. Magnetic debris from the steel wool pads and scrubbing cloths breaks off in the process. This debris gets entrained in the soapy and greasy waste water and goes down the drain causing clogs and build-up to accumulate rapidly in the sink trap and drain pipes. This necessitates frequent attention to keep the drains functional. By capturing the magnetic debris before it goes down the drain, it can be collected and discarded by wiping with a paper towel or rag and disposed separately thereby greatly extending the interval between preventive maintenance to drains and sink traps. A sink strainer designed to perform this function is the subject of the present invention.
The prior art reveals a patent for a vertically extending magnetic sink strainer of Landsberger et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 7,900,289) which is designed to help retrieve magnetic stirring bars from laboratory sinks after a cleaning process. The stirring bars and associated lab equipment are well described in the patent of Yaniv et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 7,748,893) of which Landsberger is a co-inventor. The prior art magnetic sink strainer is best illustrated in FIG. 2 of Landsberger '289 showing it in place over a sink drain and magnetically attracting stirring bars 206. It consists of an elastomeric strainer engaged by legs at the edge of the sink drain. It has an upward rising central hollow cylinder with a flat top centered atop the drain opening; this cylinder has a flat base at the sink bottom level. Both the base and cylinder sides have slits with openings sized to exclude stirring bars or similar objects while permitting waste water flow. The inside of the cylindrical portion has attached one or more cylindrical magnets; these attract the stirring bars or other magnetic items to collect them in the drain area for easy manual pick-up. Clearly, this magnetic sink strainer cannot be used in a commercial kitchen sink as the cylindrical section protruding upward from the drain would preclude the cleaning of pots and pans which require a flat sink bottom surface on which to exert force during vigorous scrubbing.